The Return of the Dragons
by Scroll-2
Summary: Where did they really go? Is all of what Porlyusica said about being Grandine's counterpart really true? Or is there more to it? Will the dragons finally return after all of these years? How can one single man collapsing after arriving in the guild one day change it all? Various pairings, but not based on romance. First Fanfic! (Takes place after Grand Magic Games)
1. Scroll-1

**Hey everybody, this is the first chapter of my first ever fanfic. Hope you enjoy:)**

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Everyone in the guild was going about their normal business. A few were out on jobs, but many were hanging around in the hall due to the fact it was already dark outside and too late to leave for any job. By hanging around, that means that Ezra was eating her strawberry cake while both trying to protect it from getting knocked over and keeping a hawk's eye on the two boys who were inches away from starting a huge fight.

"What did you say, Flame Brain?!" yelled an angry Gray.

"I said, 'Put on some damn clothes for once!', you deaf stripper!" retorted Natsu, who was starting to have smoke coming out of his ears.

Ezra could see from her seat across the room. The poor celestial mage was massaging her temples, as her patience was growing shorter and shorter.

"Could you two guys just stop for once?" sighed Lucy, "Please?" As she finished speaking, the snow-white haired barmaid came up to her with a milkshake.

"Now, now, Lucy, if they didn't fight then there would be something wrong with them." said a very cheery Mirajane. Lucy sighed again.

"Yeah, I guess so." And with that, a small smile crept onto her lips.

"She liiiiiikes him!" chirped a flying Happy, who had moved away from the boys as the fight became more and more physical.

"I do not!" a blushing Lucy nearly screamed at him as Mirajane simply chuckled._ 'I wonder who will confess their feelings first...'_

"Don't worry about it Lu-chan," said her blue haired friend Levy. "Nobody takes anything Happy says serious–Eeek!" she squeaked as she was lifted into the air by a quite terrifying dragon slayer. "Gajeel, what the hell are you doing?"

Gajeel scoffed, "I'm getting you out of the way of those two idiots' path of destruction so you don't get trampled and become even shorter."

Levy huffed, crossed her arms, and allowed herself to be carried off because she had no good response for his short comment. Lucy hadn't even noticed how much worse their fight had become. Elfman had joined in, much against Evergreen's wishes, and was saying how fighting was manly. After Gajeel got Levy out of the way, he decided to participate and, unfortunately for him, knocked over Cana's barrel and she jumped in as well in order to get revenge. Shortly after Macao joined in, he was thrown across the guildhall and completely destroyed the table that Erza's cake was placed upon. Now, Ezra was involved and Lucy wasn't sure if she was trying stop the fight or claim the victory for herself and/or vengeance for the cake that was now on the floor.

"ENOUGH!" Shouted a booming voice. "YOU BRATS, SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!" That was all that was needed to end the fight when it was spoken by a giant that towered over everyone in the room.

After that outburst, Master Makarov sat back down on his place on the railing of the second floor, wearing his orange and blue outfit that looked like one a jester would wear. For the most part, everyone followed those instructions. Ezra was making sure that Gray and Natsu weren't going to start another fight while Lucy, Levy, and Pantherlily were helping to put the tables back together. Gajeel went over to where Levy was, checking that she was okay whilst giving an evil eye to Jet and Droy that was reminding them about what would happen to them if anything happened to Levy.

Lucy sighed and looked out the window. _'Hm, I didn't notice it was raining…'_ All of a sudden there was a loud crash and lightning flashed as the guild doors were blown open, letting in a chilling air. Lucy hadn't had enough time to shield her eyes from the light and was able to see a dark figure's silhouette against the lightning's flash. The person walked into the guild as if they were a corpse and blood drops were seen on the floor as they walked by. Even after they moved into the light, the people in the guild could still not see the person's face because it was covered by the hood of the dark cloak they were wearing. Only those with the keen hearing of dragons could hear what was said.

_"Finally…"_ The person grunted before collapsing onto the wooden floor.

The silence in the guildhall was deafening and was quickly broken when the Master spoke up. "This person is clearly in need of our help. Mirajane, get the infirmary ready. Carla, please fly to Porlyusica's and ask for her assistance. Gray and Natsu, go and bring this person into the infirmary." After a short pause, he shouted, "Now!"

Mirajane and Wendy ran quickly into the back room and started getting supplies they would need while Carla quickly went to one of the windows, only to be blown back by a strong gust of wind. Happy helped to keep her from falling and brought her back up to the window.

"Do you want me to go with you?" asked Happy with a hopeful smile on his face that was hiding his true worry.

"No," Carla deadpanned. "I will manage by myself." And with that last statement, she flew off into the stormy night with a flash of lightning to show her silhouette as she disappeared into the forest.

By this time, Erza had let Natsu and Gray out of her sight so they could go and help the person into the infirmary. They each had one of the person's arms over their shoulders. That was when Natsu noticed something odd.

"Hey Gray, do you think this guy might be sick?"

"What makes you say that?" asked a curious Gray as they started walking.

"Well," Natsu started, "To me, he feels really warm, and that normally means they have a fever." he paused, "Also I've never met anyone who has felt warm to the touch; my temperature is usually higher."

"Maybe you're right, he does feel unusually warm," said Gray, "That's just another reason we should get them to the infirmary quickly."

"Well, I would have been there already if you weren't slowing me down!" responded Natsu, who had completely forgotten that Ezra had turned back around was keeping an eye on him.

"What?!" shouted Gray, "You wouldn't have even been able to carry this guy if I wasn't helping you!" He hadn also forgotten about Ezra…

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU AND CARRY THAT PERSON TO THE INFIRMARY BEFORE YOU MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!" shouted a very infuriated Erza. Gray and Natsu didn't need to be told twice as they sped towards the door that would be a barrier between them and the fearful Titania.

Safely on the other side, Natsu and Gray leaned against the wall trying to catch their breath. They hadn't even noticed the curious looks that were being given to them by Wendy and Mirajane, mostly because that wasn't really important to them right now.

"Natsu-san and Gray-san, please put the person down on this bed," instructed Wendy with a little more seriousness in her voice than usual. They both quickly followed her instructions and leaned in curiously to see the person's face as Mirajane pulled off the hood.

It was revealed to be a man who was about in his mid-twenties with hair that didn't quite reach his collar. The color of his hair was very striking. It looked as if it were the same color as the scales of an orange goldfish. Attention was immediately drawn away from his hair as he started coughing up more blood to go with what was already covering the front of his neck and cloak.

_'How did I not smell his blood when we were carrying him?'_ thought Natsu, who was intrigued by the man and noticed he had a familiar scent. _'Have I met him before?'_

A few moments of Wendy's blue glowing hands hovering over the man's torso that was moving up and down in ragged breathing passed.

"He has internal injuries," Wendy said. "I've got to wait for Grandi-aah, Porlyusica-san's help,"

As if on cue, she walked through the door and stopped when she saw the man lying on the bed. Her eyes opened wide in shock and a single word escaped her lips that could barely be heard.

"Igneel?"

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**I wonder what she means? Well, that is for me to know an you to find out :) I really hope you enjoyed it and I have lots of basic questions like 'Is this a good length?''Did I use okay words?''Not enough dialog?' I'm just starting, so I don't know about those kinds of things. Please comment, I am willing to accept constructive criticism. Thanks :)**


	2. Scroll-2

**Hey, I'm back with chapter two:) I would like to say a special thanks to my friend who is helping me with proofreading and editing. *applauds* Hope you enjoy!**

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It took a second for what Porlyusica said to sink in.

"Did...did you say something?" asked Natsu. It wasn't noticeable, but he was shaking._ 'She definitely said Igneel, right? Or am I hearing things?'_ He wasn't sure if that was what she said or not._ 'Igneel is definitely a dragon, so that can't be what she said.'_ Thought Natsu, who now had an answer but was still unsure.

Porlyusica snapped back into reality when Natsu asked his question.

"No… it's nothing." She muttered as she shook her head. As she discarded her rigidness from when she entered the room, she walked over to the other side of the bed the man was on. "What seems to be wrong with him?" She asked with more impatience in her voice than usual.

Wendy gave her a curious look. _'Didn't she say "Igneel"?'_ Wendy pushed idea aside, replacing her focus on the task before her.

"He has severe injuries to a few major organs." said Wendy, "But there don't seem to be any external injuries that correspond with them." Wendy paused, "Usually there are at least bruises on the outside but I can't find any."

"Hm...I guess we will have to wait for him to wake up in order to find out." And with that, Porlyusica started moving her hands over the man's torso while they glowed a ghostly powder blue. Wendy rose her hands to the same height as Porlysica's and added her power to the healing magic.

After a few minutes, the two healers' hands lost their glow and were placed down by their sides.

"There is nothing more we can do for him at this time. All he needs to do now is rest and he should be able to get up in a few days or so." Said Porlyusica, who was giving a facial expression that had several layers of different emotions to it and was difficult to read.

While they were healing the man, Lucy, Erza, Gajeel, and Pantherlily had entered the room. Erza was standing in the back corner making sure there wasn't anyone foolish enough to start a fight in the infirmary. Gajeel and Pantherlily (in his smaller form) were sitting on the bed across from the one occupied by the mysterious man. Lucy was standing at the foot of the bed facing him.

"It's a shame that we don't even know his name." she mumbled, not really expecting an answer.

"Oh yeah, Porlyusica-san," started Wendy, "When you first came into the room you said 'Igneel', right?" There was an uneasy pause in the room as eyes were drawn to her. "Does that mean this is the Igneel from Edolas?" Wendy brought her dark brown eyes up so they were in a direct line with Porlyusica's deep crimson ones. Natsu's eyes grew wide as he looked down at the man laying in the bed.

"I suppose you could say he is the Igneel of Edolas." said Porlyusica as she brought her eyes down and away from the other eyes in the room. Gajeel, who had made himself comfortable on the other bed by lying down, sat up and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.

"Now I'm curious," His frown deepened a bit, "You said before that you'd never met the Edolas Igneel or Metalicana. So, how could you know that it is him?" All eyes slightly widened as they turned their gazes toward the pink-haired healer. She let out a small sigh.

"Well…" She started, but then was quickly interrupted as the man who they were in the middle of deciding was or was not Igneel, groaned and started to sit up, only to wince in pain and fall back down. Wendy had managed to get her hand behind the shoulder that was closest to her and slowly help him down. After he was resting on the bed again, he slowly opened his eyes that had the color of slowly cooling magma and glanced around the room.

"Where am I–aauugh!" He tried talking, but then quickly reached up to his head with his right hand and grabbed the orange locks of hair as if he was in pain. "My head is pounding…" His eyes were squeezed shut tightly as he took a few deep breaths before he opened his eyes again and raised his head to look around the room. His eyes first rested on Natsu who was staring at him as if he had three heads, then on Gajeel who was still looking at him with narrowed eyes, and finally to Porlyusica. "Grandine!? Good, I was worried about what would happen when I passed out. By the way, where am I?" His eyes were now full of life as they looked around eagerly absorbing all of his surroundings.

_'Yep, still the same simpleton as before.'_ Thought Porlyusica as a small smile crept to her lips. "You're at the Guild Fairy Tail." Her face quickly turned shocked as if she realized the world was about to explode or something. "Why are you here, Igneel?" Only those with dragon slayer hearing could tell she was trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Well…" He started, but seemed hesitant about continuing, "Since I started regaining more of my magic, I thought it was a good time to finally explain to Natsu what happened on July 7th, X777." That one sentence made every single person's heart skip a beat. _'What...did he just say?'_

"Wait a second…" Started Lucy. "No one in Edolas has magic within themselves. So, what do you mean by 'regaining more of your magic'?" Many people in the room who had once thought that Lucy was smart were beginning to reevaluate their friend. Igneel chuckled as he pushed himself up with his hands.

"Heh, heh…Well there aren't any dragons in Edolas either." He gave her a sly grin, "So, if I can't be from Edolas because I have magic and I share the name of a dragon who isn't in this world any more. Then who am I?" The small number of people who figured it out gasped quietly, the others either didn't know what he meant or did a good job of concealing their reaction. And of course, there is always one who says what they are thinking outloud…

"You're the Igneel from Earthland, aren't you?" Said Erza, who was standing in the corner. She was using a monotone voice and spoke as if it was the most normal thing to say. A few who hadn't understood before (mostly Happy) now made shocked expressions and faced the man who was giving a cheeky grin and pointing at Erza.

"Ding, ding, ding...The prize goes to the redhead in the armor!" Prolyusica face-palmed and shook her head.

"Stop acting like a child, this is important." She sighed and looked at him, "Or did you hit your head harder than I thought?" Lucy had to try very hard to not giggle. They were acting exactly like an irritated mother and an annoying child. She took a quick glance over to Natsu, who, much to her surprise, was not excited, but had narrowed his eyes at the man.

He took a step closer to the bed. "Can you prove that you're the Igneel of this world?" Natsu asked, "Because I seem to recall him being a dragon, not a human." Igneel blinked at him. He didn't seem surprised by Natsu's question, but maybe a little curious as to why he asked it.

"Do you not believe me?" Igneel inquired. Natsu simply shook his head no. "Hm…" Igneel took his right hand and cupped the end of his chin while looking up at the ceiling, thinking of how to prove he was Natsu's foster father. "How 'bout I tell you a story?" A tiny grin crept onto his face.

"Sure, why not?" Natsu shrugged his shoulders. He didn't care how "Igneel" proved who he was. Natsu just needed to know for sure. _'But what do we do if he is lying?'_ a small voice inside him asked. He couldn't think of an answer.

"During spring a few years before that happened, when Natsu would have been about three or four years old, he thought that since I could fly because I was a dragon, he could too because he was my son." He chuckled to himself, "He ran off of a forty-foot cliff and landed in the ocean that was about 40° F. Luckily, it didn't take very long to find him or he might not be here right now." He grinned and looked at Natsu, "Well, is that good enough?"

No one had noticed the ice-mage who had entered the room. A smirk appeared on Gray's face. "That definitely sounds like Natsu. Doing before thinking." Natsu instantly shot him a glare.

"Hey, it wasn't funny. I nearly drowned!" Shouted Natsu, again doing before thinking. After what he had just said had sunken into his head, he slowly turned his head around to face Igneel, who had a warm smile on his face and was looking him straight in the eye.

"Well, it seems that you just answered your own question, doesn't it?" At that moment, Natsu felt more happiness than he had in a long time. Sure, he had fun on his missions with his nakama, shared happy memories, and considered all of them his family, but this was different. He finally found Igneel, his father, the one who taught him about the magic, and his entire world and life before Fairy Tail. A great big grin appeared on Natsu's face as tears began to well up in his eyes. _'Now I know where he is.'_ thought Natsu, '_And I will never let him disappear again.'_

"Wait a minute!" Gajeel interjected, "I'm fairly certain that you're supposed to be a dragon. Would you care to explain why you're not?" Turning his gaze toward Igneel, who just let out a big yawn.

"I'm gonna let Grandine do that." he said as his eyes started drooping. "I'm exhausted from walking here." And with that, he laid back down and fell asleep. All eyes turned toward Porlyusica who only sighed.

"You just wanted the easy part didn't you?" she said, turning her head towards Igneel. "Well, get ready comfortable, this is a long story." She told the rest of them. So she began, the tale of what happened, the day the dragons disappeared.

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**And that's it for chapter 2. Again, still getting used to writing on so still don't have a good handle on things like chapter lengths, but I will try my best! Till next time!**


	3. Scroll-3

**Hey, I'm back again. I again received help from my editing friend *thanks given*. I hope you all enjoy. This is chapter 3! :)**

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After everyone was in a comfortable position that they could stay in for as long as the story would take, she began.

"At first, we weren't even sure what happened. When we had gone to bed after the sun had set, there was nothing that gave hint as to what would happen that night." she paused for a second. "It was a strange feeling, as if we were being pulled into the sky. When we woke up then next morning, we found that we were no longer in Earthland, but in Edolas." she sighed. "And even worse, all of our magic was stripped from us and we were turned into humans with no power. When we reached the capital in Edolas, we decided to stick together until we were able to find a way, and if we did we were supposed to go and find out how to help the others."

Her eyes drifted toward Igneel. "As far as I can tell, I was the first to return. A year later, I had snuck onto the Exceed flying islands to see what kind of magic they had and was swept up by whatever was sending the eggs here to the Earthland. I had landed in the country of Bellum and headed for Fairy Tail because I had heard of 'Salamander' and thought that maybe Igneel had come back." No one detected the little old man in the orange and blue jester's outfit, who had entered the room.

"I want to apologize to the dragon slayers on behalf of the dragons." She squeezed her eyes tightly. "It was our fault that you were left in the world all alone. We were supposed to be your parents, the ones who would protect you, but we failed. And even worse, it took us many years to come back and even longer to find you. Please, we don't deserve it, but we beg for your forgiveness."

Erza only shook her head. "From your story, I find no reason how this is yours or any other dragon's fault. It was one of those things you cannot control." She smiled. "Don't beat yourself up over something that happened by chance"

"If anything, it was those guys in Edolas who are to blame. And we already went there, beat them up, and came back!" Shouted Natsu.

Wendy smiled. "Yeah, and all that matters is that you're here now."

"And don't worry about Metalicana." Started Gajeel. "I'm sure that even as a human, his pride wouldn't stop him from coming here and punching anyone in the face who tried to feel sorry for him." Everyone buzzing with supportive words until…

"Now, wait a minute." All eyes turned to face the white-haired barmaid in the corner. "I like forgiveness and all, but I've been over all the guild records, you have definitely been here long before the dragons disappeared." A few of the senior guild members nodded their heads and circled their heads back towards the old woman. She sighed and looked down.

"I am sad to say, that was part of an intricate lie." she looked down. "I recognized Natsu as Igneel's son and thought it would be my duty to watch over him until Igneel came back. From experiencing the Fairy Tail in Edolas, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to be at a good distance to keep him safe without being an official guild member and I couldn't be a member because I had lost all of my fighting magic. Since I had begun regaining some of my healing magic after returning to Earthland, I thought that I could use the cover as a retired healer. Because healing magics and illusion magics are similar, I was able to construct fake memories that provided me with a past in Fairy Tail that would have my cover make sense. I truly do apologize."

Everyone in the room was silent. _'I knew it, they're disgusted with me.'_ Thought Porlyusica. _'Sigh, I guess I will have to pack my things and leave as soon as possible.'_

"Well, I thought it was something like that!" Chuckled Master Makarov. Her head snapped up and looked at him with wide eyes.

"You…You knew?" She couldn't believe her ears. She had thought her memory magic was infallible. _'Maybe I messed up because of losing my magic...'_

"One day, few years ago, I felt a strange feeling wash over me. I didn't think much of it until I saw you standing in the guild hall. There were specific memories that I could place you in, but your face was not familiar." He gave her a bright grin. "That kind of memory cannot be affected by magic, but I was quite busy at the time, so I didn't think much of it."

"But if you knew that I was lying and wasn't actually part of Fairy Tail and had forcibly changed all of your memories, why did you let me stay?" She wasn't sure of what kind of answer she would get.

"Because it was just a feeling and not concrete evidence, I didn't want to make a move unless I was sure. Also in the wave of magic on that day, I felt no malice, no hate, or even any dislike whatsoever." His smile turned soft. "And especially after what you did for Erza, I could not think of any reason to not trust you like any other member of Fairy Tail."

Happy tears in her eyes finally lost their war with gravity and began streaming down her cheeks as Wendy grabbed her in large hug. Such a wonderful reunion…

"Plus, I was very impressed with your illusion magic and I knew, just from looking at how the brats acted back then, that we would need a skilled healer in the future!" Chirped a grinning Master. The eyes of the 'brats' turned to face him.

"Oh, Master, you don't mean that!" exclaimed Mirajane. The poor master didn't understand that she was trying to guide him away from that topic.

"Eh?! Of course I did! And look, I turned out to be right, didn't I?" Unfortunately, he didn't notice the people who were inching closer and closer to him until they were looming over him with their bangs covering their eyes. You could almost see the anger that was in their surrounding auras.

"Oh, you think you can take me on?" The master gave them a smirk. "Catch me if you can, you little brats!" And with that, life was brought to the dark streets of Magnolia as the Master ran swiftly while the stampede of mages followed him. All kinds of magic shooting out made the night sky shine brightly and brought out the twinkling stars. Wendy and Porlyusica had stayed behind, but moved out of the infirmary in order to let Igneel get some rest.

"Um...um…" Wendy tried to start, but something was preventing her from finishing.

"What is it?" Porlyusica asked in a sweet voice. She was happy that, now, there was nothing she had to hide.

"Can...can I call you Grandine?" Wendy managed to squeak out. "Since, now I know it's you, but if you don't want-"

"Of course you can call me Grandine." She answered simply. "After all, that is my name." Tears welled up in Wendy's eyes as she captured Grandine in yet another hug. She chuckled lightly. _'It's as if she is trying to prevent me from leaving again.'_

"Ugh, will they ever just think something through for once?" sighed Lucy, who was sitting on a bar stool. "Don't they realize that it's already midnight?" She groaned. "Oh, well, goodnight Mira, Porlyusica-san (or is it Grandine?), Wendy. I'm gonna head back to my apartment and try to get some sleep before Natsu and Happy try to come in through the window again." Lucy hopped off her stool and walked out the thick doors to the guild while waving goodbye.

"We should head back too." Stated Grandine. "It has been a long enough day already, and I'm sure tomorrow will be just as long when Igneel tells us how he got the unusual wounds." She turned to face Wendy, who was yawning. It made her chuckle. "You must be tired as well." She thought for a little. "You are welcome to stay at my house if yours is too far." Wendy could only nod in agreement. And with that, the two walked out of the guild to get a good night's sleep in order to prepare for the next day at Fairy Tail.

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**And that is it for Chapter 3 :) Please review, I would like some feedback concerning things like length of chapters, dialog, and so on and so forth. Oh yeah, and if at anytime at all, anyone of you wonderful readers thinks that the rating for this story needs to change, please contact me about it IMMEDIATELY. Thanks, see you again next time :)**


	4. Scroll-4

**I am so, so sorry that it took me so long to upload this chapter. My friend and I both go to the same school, so our major projects are on the same schedule and thus cause delays. This chapter was actually finished about a week ago, it just wasn't proofread.**

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The next morning in the guild was an interesting sight. Lucy was yelling at Happy after he made another comment about romantic feelings between her and Natsu as Mirajane simply chuckled. Igneel had decided that the Infirmary was boring and came out into the guild hall and was sitting on a bar stool next to Grandine, Wendy, and Lucy, watching Natsu and Gray argue.

"We are going to go on this job, Popsicle!" shouted Natsu, as he held a flyer in his hand and was waving it in Gray's face. The job was getting rid of some bandits outside a small town.

"That job doesn't pay enough money for all the fighting that's involved, you flaming idiot!" yelled Gray. The flyer in his hand had a high payout, but there would be less fighting overall. Lucy preferred the job that Gray had, but was smart enough to not get between the two boys.

"SHUT UP!" Now, Erza on the other hand… "I will pick a job for us to go on later this afternoon so that there is no more bickering. Understand?" Both boys simply nodded their heads as they shook with fear and headed for where Igneel was sitting. He was chuckling at the sight.

"Hey…" He leaned over and whispered to Lucy. "Is it always like this?" Lucy sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes." She answered him. Only then did she notice her blue-haired friend and the iron dragon slayer coming over to where they were sitting.

"Hey, Lu-chan!" Squeaked Levy, she seemed excited about something. "Have you got the next chapter ready?" At first Lucy wasn't sure what she was talking about. Then, it hit her. She was supposed to have finished up the next chapter of her story last night so that Levy could read it today, but was unable to, due to...things.

"Sorry, Levy. I was here most of last night and when I got home, I fell asleep instantly." Lucy explained. She felt bad about not having the chapter ready when Levy looked down, disappointed. Then Natsu joined in to help her 'argument'.

"It was pretty funny, though." He commented. "She only got halfway across the room before she passed out and Happy and I had to help her to the bed." Then Happy chimed in.

"Aye! 'Twas funny!" He barely managed to get away from Lucy before she strangled him. Levy tried to apologize, but no one took notice of her because they were far more interested in watching Lucy as she tried to catch the fire-eater and his cat.

After the trio had moved a little further away from the group at the bar, Gajeel spoke up. "Hey, Grandine, now is it?" She turned to him with a confused expression on her face, but nodded for him to continue. "Why do you look like an old hag while Igneel here looks no older than 20?" The question earned him an elbow in the side from Levy. "Hey! What was that for!?"

"You don't just ask a lady that!" She shouted back at him. She was planning on continuing, but stopped when she heard Igneel speak.

"Yeah, I was wondering that too." He started. "When we were in Edolas you were the same age but…" He decided it would be best to not finish when he could feel Mirajane dark aura behind him as she began to change to her Satan Soul. She was also angry about Gajeel's question, but Igneel thought it was something he said, so he clammed up.

At first Grandine blinked in confusion at them, but then realized... "Oh… that!" They all turned their eyes toward her. "When I used my memory magic, I needed to take the appearance of an old woman for it to make sense, then completely forgot to change back. Just a second!" she slid of off the bar stool.

A cerise magic circle surfaced around her. Time around her seemed to move backward. Her hair sticks became loose and fell out and let her hair fall along her back, reaching below her waist. The cloak that she usually wears was replaced by a simple white spaghetti strap dress that ended a bit below the knees. Her eyes gained more life and grew slightly brighter, bringing out the blood-red color. The wrinkles were removed from her face as it smoothed out and shed all of the years away. Wendy gasped, Igneel only nodded, Lucy had her mouth open (she had come back after sufficiently 'punishing' Natsu and Happy), and the rest of the guild was wide-eyed as one of the oldest people they knew changed into a young woman. Some could say that her beauty rivaled that of Mirajane. She turned around to face the ones sitting at the bar.

"There we go, all back to normal!" Her voice sounded beautiful as well. It shared the purity of a song from a bird. She skipped back to the bar, passing all of the Fairy Tail members who had open mouths, and sat herself on one of the stools as if nothing had happened.

Igneel chuckled as he shot her a knowing glance. He leaned in with a grin and said into her ear, "I know why you changed your form into that of an old woman." Very few were able to catch the slight blush that came to her face. A few seconds later, you could almost see the lightbulb go off above her head. She was a little flustered when she turned to face Igneel and his face was barely an inch from hers. His grin disappeared when she pushed him back lightly with a serious look on her face.

"I forgot to ask when you first came in," She started. "But, what happened to Metalicana?" Everyone who had heard her question became silent. Nobody dared to make a sound that would cause them to miss the answer from the fire dragon.

He tilted his head forward, letting his bangs create shadows that would cover his eyes. "We planned on coming over into Earthland together, but got separated on the trip." He paused for a second and looked up. "I have no idea if he is even in this world or not. Sorry." Not a single person had anything to say that would make him feel any less despair. But of course, there is always one who tries…

"Don't worry, Igneel-san." Chirped Mirajane while she was drying glasses. "Fairy Tail is well-known around the world, so if he hears that two people named Igneel and Grandine are here, then he will probably come looking for you." She put a bright smile on her face that seemed to light up not only their hearts, but the entire building.

"That's right!" Exclaimed Lucy. "Fairy Tail get lots of publicity because of how much is destroyed when we take on missions and especially after winning the Grand Magic games. If he is in Earthland, he will definitely hear about Fairy Tail!" A smile creeping back onto Igneel's face until all of a sudden he stopped and his face froze in realization. He turned to Makarov.

"I meant to ask about the guild name earlier. How did you know that fairies had tails?" At first, everyone took a second to let what he had said to sink in, then looked at him with confused expression placarded on their faces. Makarov hopped off of the stool he was standing on top of, on the other side of the room and walked over to where the rest of the group was seated.

"What do you mean by your question?" He was looking up from where he was standing on the floor to Igneel. "Fairy Tail was named for the question 'Do fairies have tails?'. You speak as if they do, but we shouldn't know about it. So I ask again, what do you mean?" Grandine looked nervously over to Igneel, as if worried as to how he would answer.

He placed his elbow on the counter and rested his hand on his palm. "Well...I mean, fairies have tails, but they're really against showing them to humans. I am uncertain as to why though. They used to love to play with humans, but after the dragon civil war, they simply stopped appearing. I asked Flam about it, but she didn't give me a good answer." He glanced over to where the group who was listening to him had gathered, eagerly waiting to hear more of the story of the fairies. "Have any of you seen a fairy before?" His question was answered with blank stares until…

"I have." A great majority of the people in the guild turned around to see Mavis, the first master of Fairy Tail. Many had shocked stares on their faces. "But that was when I was very young, long before I even had thoughts of magic guilds." Makarov however, did not seem surprised at all.

"I'm guessing that is where you learned such powerful spells as Fairy Law and Fairy Glitter." He inquired. It was less of a question, more of a statement of a true fact. Mavis only nodded in response. "I'm also guessing that when you were younger, you thought you saw that the fairies had tails, but weren't sure. Naming Fairy Tail for it's endless wonder and adventures." A warm smile crept onto the two masters' faces as they had a moment of understanding between each other.

Grandine turned towards Igneel. "You mentioned Flam, right?" He gave her a curious glance, but nodded as an answer. "Does your contract still stand?" He slowly nodded again, unsure about where she was headed with this conversation. A sly smile slid onto her face. "Perhaps you could call her here and we could sort this out once and for all." An expression of pure horror flashed across his features.

"Grandine! It's been fourteen years! She probably wouldn't respond even if I tried." He sounded as if he was trying to convince her that bringing Flam there would be the end of the world. She, however, wasn't listening. A sinister aura surrounded her and grew until most of the people around her had shivered from the feel and slipped away to avoid the impending wrath. Igneel, also aware of the growing rage coming from the pink-haired lady, finally sighed and gave in. "Fine, I'll call her, but you have to stop her if something goes wrong, all right?" Grandine quickly became quite cheerful (creating fear among the rest of the guild, who figured out they had another person like Mirajane) and stared at him eagerly as he hopped off of the stool and walked in front of the group.

He reached out his right hand and started chanting in a language that hadn't been spoken by humans for nearly a millennium. The air around him began to rise in temperature so much that a few of the bystanders had to step farther away from him. An unearthly gale blew through the guild doors and swirled around inside the hall. Suddenly, a foot tall flame erupted on his hand.

_**"I summon you! Empress of the Fire Fairies, Flamma!"**_

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_**(For you latin students, her name comes from flamma, flammae which is a first declension feminine word meaning 'flame'.) The shortened name 'Flam' is pronounced like 'BAM' when you hit something.**_

**Well, that is the end of Chapter 4. Lot's of stuff was going on and it moves fairly quickly. If any part of it was unclear, tell me and I'll try to fix it. Please review :)**


	5. Scroll-5

**Hi everyone, it's good to be back. This is chapter 5 with lots o' detail.**

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The flame that was resting in his hand turned a blood-red color and swirled violently in the wind. The air became thick with incredibly hot magic. Because of this, many people had difficulty breathing as the temperature rose well beyond what would be found in Desierto during the summer. Just as the room was almost unbearable and a few of the guild members no longer had the strength to stand, the heat of the room suddenly plunged and was returned to normal.

The flame in Igneel's hand slowly dissipated, revealing a small girl. She was just shy of one foot tall and surprised the people who expected a full-grown adult. She was wearing a tan cloth bikini that looked like it was simply scraps that were wrapped around her top and bottom. Her hair was fire-engine red and little glowing embers fell out whenever she spun her head around to look at people. On her feet were little sack-like shoes that were tied around her ankles with small straps. The wings that sprouted from her back were the most intriguing part of her. They were similar to large butterfly wings that stuck out about three inches from her and reached from below the small of her back to slightly above her head. The veins were traced with orange flames except the was no material between them. They moved slowly apart and together, but never seemed to touch.

Her eyes were wide with curiosity as she looked around at the people in the guild hall. When she saw who was holding her in their hand…

"Igneel-sama!" She squeaked, launching herself from where she was standing, right into his face, causing him to stumble backwards a little. "I've missed you! Why didn't you call? We were all worried! Did we do something to make you upset with us?" She pulled back from his face and looked down at the floor. She was beating her wings slowly in order to remain in the air while pulling in her limbs in a very nervous and self-conscious way. When she rose her head so she could look him in the eye, it was very clear that she was about to cry.

"Ah...N-no. Don't cry!" Igneel was waving his hands in front of him frantically as he tried to calm the girl down. "I was never upset with any of you. I was pulled into a parallel universe and lost almost all of my magic." He reached to scratch the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly. "I would've called earlier if I could." The little fairy, who didn't even question his answer and seemed satisfied, grinned an adorable smile that warmed even the coldest hearts in the guild.

It was right then, Erza noticed something._ 'He looks like he is about to collapse.'_ She thought. Anyone who wasn't watching the fairy fluttering, was able to see it. He was absolutely exhausted and was still swaying slightly from when she had run into his face, as if he was barely awake. _'He must still be recovering from his wounds from yesterday.'_ Then she realized. _'It must take a huge amount of magical energy to summon something like a fairy. It's hard enough for Lucy to summon many celestial spirits at once.'_

As if on cue, Igneel fell to his knees and a satisfying _thump_ was heard when he had reached the ground. A few people gasped, others tried to help him up, but doing that proved to be difficult when the person doesn't want any assistance. The energy in his face was deceiving and Erza was unsure if it was a veneer to keep other from worrying about him. The little fairy however, didn't seem to care. She flew around behind him, grabbed the collar of his shirt, lifted him up of the ground, and carried him to the bar so that he could sit down.

"Baka! Why did you call me if you knew it was too much strain on you?" She was fluttering her wings furiously and had her arms crossed in front of her small chest. Quite few people in the room had to try very hard to not giggle at the scene that was playing out in front of them. A full-grown man was getting scolded by a girl who wasn't even a foot tall. "Summoning a fairy when you're a dragon is different than when you're a human!" Her eyes narrowed. "You're lucky. With those wounds, it could've killed you." Nobody was giggling now. Well…

"Yeah, but I knew what I was doing." Igneel, even though he was being scolded, was chuckling. "Plus, no one says 'no' to Grandine more than once." He shot the mentioned a great big grin while she had a look of absolute horror on her face.

"You should have told me if that was a reason you didn't want to summon her!" Grandine almost shouted at him. He was a little surprised by her response and wasn't sure what to do about it.

It wasn't like she'd never yelled at him before, but this was different. There was hidden worry in her voice. Worry because he hadn't told her that he knew how dangerous it was. Worry about what had happened if he hadn't been as lucky as he was. As far as they knew, they were the only dragons in Earthland. And that meant that they had to look out for one another.

"Oh...so, this is _your_ fault?" The way the question was spoken, sent shivers down everyone's spines. The voice was so soft, yet it had the sharpness of a steel blade with each syllable. The room was instantly filled with a sinister aura that would have burned you if you could touch it. The fairy had turned to face Grandine, but her eyes were covered by her bangs, hiding her features. All of a sudden, killing intent rose up into the aura as it grew.

"Now, now." Igneel patted the girl roughly on the head which broke her concentration and made the aura disappear. "We can play the blame game later, that's not the reason I called you here." She was about to argue but stopped when she saw the warm smile he had on his face. With a small nod, he lowered his hand from her head and she calmed down.

"Yeah! We wanted to know, do fairies have tails?" Lucy leaned in with her chin resting on the crook between her hands and her elbows on her knees. Overwhelmed by the size of the girl, Flam nervously inched backwards toward Igneel.

"And why don't fairies come to the human world anymore?" Mavis asked. She had moved closer and was looking Flam right in the eye.

Various other members came over and were all asking similar questions. Flam covered her little, pointed ears to block out the noise and shook her head, as if telling them to stop. Even if she was, no one was listening.

"Oi! Hold your horses, one question at a time." Igneel had let her cower behind him so that the others couldn't see her. He had brought her to this scary place, it was the least he could do. Once the questions stopped coming, she crept out to see lots of eager faces ready to listen to what she had to say.

Lucy decided she would go first (without asking anyone). "So, do fairies have tails?" The entire guild wanted to hear the answer. Mavis had made her way to the front of the group now and was staring directly at Flam.

"Well...yes, we do but…" She started and then stopped when she noticed all the people leaning in. Igneel put his hand behind her to prevent her from going into hiding again and gave her an encouraging smile. "It is considered dishonorable to the world of fairies to show them to humans without a reason." She looked up at the others. "Plus, it means we have to show our true form as well." Erza only nodded in response. Natsu was about to ask about the 'true form', but Gray stopped him, noticing that it was clearly a subject she didn't want to talk about.

"So, do you use fire magic?" Absolutely no one had seen Romeo walk up to the front of the group. When she gave a quick nod, he asked again. "Can we see it?" Flam smiled. Now, she wouldn't have to be talking anymore, just doing some magic to keep them entertained. Before she began, she beat her wings and flew to the middle of the guild hall and held her small arms out.

"I'll just borrow these for a second!" Just as she finished, the little fires from the oil lamps in the guild hall, flew off of their wick and swirled closely to the roof until they rested in a circle around the floating fairy. This caused the room to grow dark, as the light source was now focussed in one spot.

Round and round the blazes whirled, capturing wonder-stuck eyes with their enchanting dance. Ah, the colors they were. The azures of sapphire, the greens of emerald, the scarlets of ruby, and some were even the most beautiful shades of pearl as they flew. A few even changed from as light as the sun itself to the black of a starless night, and others transformed in reverse. Ribbons of flame slithered through the bystanders, not touching a single one, yet getting closer than a hair's width. The ribbons changed into serpents with blood-red scales and lunged at Flam, who was standing in the middle of the show. She dodged them with the elegance and allowed them to become one with flames once again. The cackling of the fire beckoned the watchers to join them in their moonlit minuet. The tongues of fire licked the roof of the guild, covering it with soot as dark as ebony. Natsu was scolded by Lucy several times for trying to eat the fire and was told to simply enjoy the show. Juvia was being pulled around by the people who were afraid of being burned and wanted the water mage there for safety. Erza was keeping an eye on Gray to make sure he didn't try to strip any further than his boxers from the heat. Jet and Droy were looking for Levy to make sure she wasn't lost, only to find her sitting with Gajeel, her eyes wide in wonder. Mirajane and Elfman had worked quickly to put the flammable liquors away just as the show began. Romeo was watching while wondering if he could ever learn to use magic like that.

Finally, the flames decreased in size and each of the small flickerings slowly floated back toward their respectful place on an oil lamp. Flam, who seemed happier than ever, flew through the hall of stunned people and sat criss-cross on top of Igneel's head.

The entire guild burst out into cheers for the little fairy. Never before had they seen such a spectacle, not even at the Grand Magic Games. But alas, they were too busy partying and having fun to notice the cloaked figure outside the window. They did not see him leave either.

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**And that's all folks, hope you enjoyed it. *Thanks editing friend once again* I will try to get Chapter 6 up as soon as I can. Till next time :)**

**ps. I am always looking to improve, so please review :)**


	6. Scroll-6

**Hey everyone, this is Chapter 6. Hope you enjoy!**

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A few days had passed. Flam went back home to make sure that "everyone was behaving as they should". Team Natsu finally went out on the job that Erza had picked, but, sad to say, half of the town was destroyed while they completed the mission, thus causing them to lose the majority of the reward to repair bills. All of the members decided to donate the money to Lucy, whose rent never went up, but it always seemed that she never had enough money to pay for it. Levy tried to convince her to stay at Fairy Hills, but Lucy was scared of Erza attacking her in the middle of the night. Of course, everyone except Erza found this funny, and unfortunately, Natsu and Gray laughed out loud. It did not end well for them.

Igneel was staying in a guest room at the back of Fairy Tail's main hall and Grandine had simply continued using her house. She was still the medical advisor, but was seen in the guild far more often because she liked being around humans and was just acting before. Igneel's attire changed to a simple red T-shirt with black jeans and unusually shiny shoes. He liked walking around Magnolia, looking at everything in the world around him. Though, every single time he went out, he got lost. But, it didn't bother him because he thought it was fun, exploring a new world with things he'd never seen and people he'd never met, an adventure every time.

After Team Natsu came back the next morning, they sat with the dragons at the bar in the guild and talked about all the different kind of mages in Fairy Tail. Well, they were mostly showing the fire dragon because Grandine already knew all of the guild members and was happily chattering away with the barmaid while this...show-and-tell?...was going on.

"See, Lucy here is a celestial mage and has, like, all of the zodiac keys!" Shouted Natsu, who was trying to show them the keys, which were secured tightly to Lucy's waist to prevent losing them, but was far too excited and just made Lucy annoyed.

"Shut up for a second, you idiot!" yelled an infuriated Gray, who then turned back to Igneel. "I am a Static Ice-Make mage and would prefer to not work with him." He sighed heavily. "Unfortunately, I am forced to by Erza." He gestured to the red-head in armor eating a strawberry cake, she glanced back at him, but it was unclear if she had heard him or not. "She is not someone you want to cross. She uses Ex-quip and has over 100 different armors."

"Mn, an impressive number." Mused Igneel. He wasn't paying as much attention as he could have been, but since he was stuck there, he thought he might as well listen to what they had to say. It took him a second to notice the short girl with light blue hair come up to where he was sitting.

"Hi!" She chirped like a little bird. "My name is Levy and I use Solid Script Magic. See!" After twirling around on her heel, she called. "Solid Script: _Fire_" And, whoosh, in front of the both of them was the word 'fire' made of, well...fire.

Igneel smiled. Even though it wasn't a huge, or even a very hot flame, it was warm and pleasant, something that was nice and not meant for fighting. It was good to know there was still fire like that in the human world. During the Dragon Civil war, there had been entire mountains and oceans of fire. Some of it had come from him, but he couldn't tell which part was his after it had merged with the rivers of blood and reeked of hatred and death.

A strong metallic smell rushed up his nose and caused it to sting slightly. He hadn't noticed the large man walk up next to Levy. _'Must be Metalicana's brat.'_ Igneel thought bitterly. Not bitterness towards the iron dragon's son, but rather to the fact that the third dragon wasn't there with them. He didn't recall being told much about the 'child' by Metalicana, but he certainly looked like he could take care of himself.

"Anybody home?" Called a slightly annoyed Grandine. Igneel hadn't seen or heard her snapping her fingers in front of his face. He blinked and stared blankly at her once he had turned his head to face her. She sighed, understanding that he hadn't heard a single word that she had said. Mirajane was giggling at her pink-haired friend while she continued to dry glasses. "Fine. I'll ask again. Do you want anything to eat? It's almost noon and I don't recall you having any breakfast while you've been sitting here all morning."

"Ah, no. It's fine." He mumbled in response as he turned away again. It was clear that Grandine was not satisfied with the answer he gave.

"You do remember-" Her voice stuck in her throat and she stopped speaking abruptly while her eyes opened wide. Now this, caught Igneel's attention and he quickly looked back to see her slide off of her stool and walk towards the middle of the room. His eyes narrowed. _'Something's wrong…'_

All of a sudden, the guild doors blew open violently and banged against the walls as a large gale tore through the hall. A short, skinny man was standing in the middle of the doorway with his head held high and a smirk on his face. He walked inside and stopped about ten feet from where Grandine was standing.

"Well, well, look what we have here!" He was grinning as if he just learned he was king of the world. "I heard that the dragons had been turned into humans, but that was all rumors until now."

Before anyone could move, or even think about moving for that matter, a sword, as pale as a full moon, passed through Grandine's chest. No one had seen the man move toward her or draw his sword. The weapon was dyed with an uneven coating of scarlet blood as it remained unmoving, pierced straight through her. An unearthly _shiiiiing_ was heard when the man yanked his sword from Grandine as she fell to her knees. The scarlet monster on her dress spread its wings far, even though she had her hands clutched onto the wound. The man's laughter rattled the rafters of the building. "HA HA HAAA! I guess being turned into humans makes you easier to kill. Huh?"

The man hadn't noticed Igneel until he was already behind him.

"You shouldn't have done that." His voice was laced with malice and was rough on the dragon slayer's ears. Igneel narrowed his eyes and looked over the man's shoulder at Grandine. "You're lucky that wound wasn't fatal, or else you would dead as well." The man, who was clearly shocked that Igneel was behind him, regained his bearings and tried to stab him with the sword. Igneel grabbed it and stopped it before it reached his chest. "That was not a good decision on your part."

Now, everyone in Fairy Tail got involved and helped to apprehend the currently unarmed man, who didn't fight back. Mirajane and Wendy moved in quickly to get Grandine to the infirmary and treated as fast as they could. Natsu, Gray, and Erza were given the opportunity to be the ones to bind him tightly to a chair to prevent him from escaping . The man was neither afraid nor was he even trying to get away, just grinning at the people in the hall, seeming to be amused by their actions.

After everything had calmed down from the attack, they started to ask the man questions that they hoped would help them find an answer as to why he was there. Meanwhile, Igneel and Lucy had gone into the infirmary to check on Grandine's condition.

"First things first, shall we?" The Master asked as he approached the man. He was trying very hard to conceal his anger at the fact that this man dared to come into his guild and try to kill one of his most precious friends. "What is your name?"

The man was no longer smiling, laughing or showing any amusement in his face whatsoever.

"My name is not important, it never has been." A few of the members seemed unsatisfied with his answer and appeared ready to beat one that they liked out of him.

"Very well then, why are you here?" The Master continued as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

"I was given orders by someone above me in rank." This guy was clearly used to being interrogated, or at least well-trained for it.

"By whom?"

"I cannot say." The interrogator and the interrogatee locked in an unbreakable glaring match. The man was specifically giving away no information he was unauthorized to give up.

"Then, perhaps you could at least explain something important to me." Not a single person had seen Igneel walk back into the room where they were talking to the man. "You seem like a man who is very well-trained and is clearly trusted enough to be given such an objective as killing a dragon, but my question is, why didn't you? You didn't hit any of her vital points" An uneasy pause spread throughout the room. "There are several explanations that I've come up with: One, you are extremely precise and missed them on purpose in order to obtain information or something by getting closer. Two, you missed them by accident and are currently trying to either figure out a plan to escape or to kill us both before you are killed, however you seem too well trained to make that kind of mistake. Three, there is something much larger going on and you being here is simply a diversion, so it didn't matter if you killed her or not. So, which is it?"

"Ho, ho! You must be older than you look to think of those kind of strategies," The man they were interrogating finally laughed again. "Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, except maybe one or two of those old geezers in the war room come up with those kind of tactics." Chuckling, the man lowered his head, then raised it with a grin on his face. "Unfortunately for me, it was actually number #2. I recently lost the sword I had used for many years and just had it replaced, but the new sword is thinner than the old one and so it just barely missed the targets. No matter how well you're trained, if you change weapons after so long, it's like starting over."

"If you just switched weapons and knew you would be at a disadvantage, why did you come?" Now it had become Erza's turn to ask the questions. She knew what it was like to start using a weapon after training with a specific one for many years. You wouldn't go and fight until you could handle it as well as any other.

"For revenge." The simple statement was said with such a thick voice that it caused everyone in the room to have a deathly chill run down their spine.

"I am certain that I've never seen you before." Igneel's face tried to deadpan, but there was clearly confusion hidden in it. "And, though looks can be deceiving, you don't come across as someone who was around during the Dragon Civil War."

The man only shook his head, letting his black hair move side to side. "You misunderstand. My revenge is not for me, but for my sword, Kokuyōseki." The man let out a heavy sigh. "Before I got the chance to come here, I was visiting the prison to see the 'dragon' they had caught. And, I pointed my sword towards him to try and intimidate him and...he...ate half of it."

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**Hm...curious is it not? Well, all in due time. My editing friend is once again thanked for assistance in proofreading chapters. Please, please, please review! Hope you liked it:)**


	7. Scroll-7

**_Hi everyone, I'm back again. I hope you all have been enjoying the story so far! Here is Chapter 7:)_**

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_'Wait a minute, did he just say that they caught someone they think is a dragon and that he bit his sword in half? I know a certain thick-headed idiot who would do something like that.'_ Igneel quickly tried to make sense of what he had just heard and tried to buy more time before someone else blurted out another question.

"Do you know the 'dragon's' name?" He asked.

"No, I wasn't high enough to be given that kind of information." The man almost seemed like he regretted that fact. "It's a friend of yours, isn't it?" A deathly silence captured the room as a freezing chill ran down their spines. "I know what it's like to have a friend go missing, to not know where they are or even if they are alive." He raised in order to look Igneel right in the eye, to make sure he understood the message.

"Do you have any other information that would be helpful then?" All of the people who were questioning the man spun around to see Grandine walking towards them. Well, walking would be the simple term for it. The way she was moving more closely resembled limping and she seemed to be in pain as she clutched the wound that was now bandaged. However, no pain appeared on her face or even in the slightest tremor in her voice.

'Where are Mirajane and Wendy? Surely they wouldn't let her out of the infirmary that quickly?' Thought Igneel while he tried to figure out if Wendy and Mirajane were simply unable to convince her to stay or if she forced herself out._ 'I feel bad for them, if it was the latter.'_

The man seemed shock at first, but then chuckled.

"Well, they were right. You guys are certainly tougher than most humans. I must say, I'm impressed. That kind of wound usually kills people, it's not one that you should be able to walk around with." Grandine remained emotionless as she waited for his answer. "Won't take 'no' for an answer, huh? Well, I'm just a military dog. I do their dirty work, get paid, and don't ask too many questions. The only thing I can think of that would be helpful is that your friend's being kept in an underground prison in the Capital."

A silence, full of confusion, engulfed the guild hall. _'Can we believe him? How do we proceed with this information? What should we do with him?'_ All kinds of questions raced through peoples' heads as they tried to comprehend what they had heard. No one wanted to be the person to ask a question, fearing what they would hear as their answer.

"How can we trust you?" Asked Erza, in an unnerving monotone. "You said yourself that you weren't trusted with any kind of important information because you weren't 'high enough'. Also that you were here on someone else's orders. You could just be lying in order to escape."

The man, at first, just blinked at her, then burst out laughing. "Well then! Somebody's got trust issues, doesn't she?" All of a sudden, his laughing turned into coughing as droplets of blood escaped his lips and made their way to the front of his shirt and the floor in front of him. The man took a second after he stopped coughing, then a warm smile crept to his lips as he brought his eyes to look up at Erza. "As you can see, I would not lie for such a frivolous reason when my time is so short."

Erza responded in neither an audible or visual way. She simply walked around to the other side of where the man was tied up, ex-quipped a sword, and sliced the ropes holding him in one fell stroke.

"You may leave, but you must not come here again. Do you understand?" No one in the room dared to object Erza's actions as the man walked out of the guild hall without uttering another word.

Of course, someone has to break the silence eventually.

"Erza! Why'd you let him go?! He could have had more information!" Natsu, not well-known for being quiet for very long, was the one to do it. The Master only shook his head while Igneel face-palmed, wondering how stupid Natsu could be.

"Natsu, there was no point to questioning him anymore." Igneel muttered behind his hand.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Natsu seemed slightly unnerved by his statement. "Is that guy going to actually die? Is that why there's not reason to ask anymore?"

Igneel sighed. This was like talking to a child all over again. "No, Natsu. That man was acting. That was his last chance to try and convince us that we couldn't get anymore information out of him and he was finalizing the story he was told to tell. Now we just have to decide if any of what he said was true."

Lucy had made her way into the room at some point and had just now decided to join the conversation.

"He was very good at acting, but I don't think he planned on biting his tongue while he was laughing. I am impressed that he made use of such an unplanned accident on the spur of the moment like that."

"If he was acting the entire time, how can we trust any of what he said?" Interjected Gray, who was only wearing his boxers. He had a point that needed to be considered, but his question was left unanswered. At least until…

"We have no other choice." It was not only the truth in Grandine's words, but also the jagged undertone of her voice that caused her sentence to scrape against everyone's ears. Erza nodded, so did Gray. Natsu blinked in confusion and Lucy just looked down. The Master and Igneel did not respond. However, throughout the entire episode of the man coming into the guild, attacking Grandine, being interrogated and eventually released, no one had noticed the iron dragon slayer.

He had been standing in the corner, without speaking, watching and listening to all that was happening. Panther-Lily was on his shoulder, unsure of what to do and tried to ask his dragon slayer, but to no avail. The black-haired man made his way to the center of the room with the steady clunk of his boots timed perfectly to the barely heard breathing in the hall.

"I agree. I will definitely go to find Metalicana and if that guy was lying, he will be worse off than with just a bitten tongue."

"Then I guess I'll have to join you. I have a few things I want to say to that idiot's face." A full smile made its home on Igneel's face as he turned to face the iron dragon's son.

"And I've got to go to make sure those two come back. They tended to get themselves into trouble even when they were dragons." Grandine stepped forward.

"I'm not letting Igneel disappear again!" A few people chuckled at Natsu's outburst, but they understood how hard it was for Natsu when he didn't know where his foster father was and figured that was his way of saying 'I'm coming along too.'

"I'm definitely not going to just let Natsu take up the spotlight!" Of course, that meant that Gray was going to get involved.

"Someone needs to make sure you two behave." This statement was supposed to have warmth behind it, unfortunately, it didn't sound like it and caused Natsu and Gray to shrink away a little.

"And with Grandine injured, there needs to be someone to heal you if you get hurt!" Wendy came bounding into the room with Carla flying close behind.

Lucy's smile was so wide that it looked like it was nipping at the bottom of her ears. Then, she realized something that made the corners turn downward. _'I want to go as well, but I don't have a reason.'_ Lucy wasn't smiling anymore, but was now frowning. _'Even if I did go, I'd probably just get in their way.'_ She let out a small sigh that was only heard by a certain blue exceed, which happened to be sitting on her shoulder.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" His cute voice brought a little bit of happiness back to her, even though his eyes were full of worry, thinking she was sick or something.

"Ah, no, Happy. Nothing's wrong." A fake smile was placed upon her lips in order to try and hide her sadness.

"Lucy, I can tell when you're lying. You'd better tell me what's wrong." The small, blue cat was frowning now and she couldn't help but give a small, but very real, smile.

She turned back to face the group that was gathering around Gajeel.

"I just wish I could go too, but I'd just be in everyone's way if I did."

"Eh!? No you wouldn't, Lucy! You're just as strong as any of them!" He gave her a quick wink. "Plus, you're part of Team Natsu, and since everyone else on the team is going, then you have to, too."

"You don't think I'd be a burden?"

"Not at all!" Happy sprouted wings and started toward the group. "Everyone, Lucy's coming too!" Lucy, unfortunately, didn't expect him to take such a bold approach to saying she wanted to come with them and blushed with embarrassment when they looked her way.

"Really?" Natsu gave a slightly curious glance to Happy.

"Aye! We're all a team, right?" Happy seemed a lot happier than he had been for a long time, not only because he got to go on another adventure with his nakama, but also because his best friend had finally found the person he was looking for longer than Happy had been alive. Natsu gave a quick response that sounded somewhat in the area of 'Right!' but it wasn't very clear.

And so it began, first, the trek to the capital, then, the rescue of the third lost dragon parent, and, both finally and hopefully, returning to Fairy Tail.

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**That's all, folks! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review! I want to hear predictions, comments, concerns, and anything in that area. Till next time :)**


	8. Scroll-8

**Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to update :( First, my friend had a project due (but we still like them because they are being such a great help), Then my internet ****_stopped working_**** for like 6 hours!** **I hope you all enjoy it anyway!**

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Of course, this motley crew could not leave straight away.

"Why do we need to come up with a plan!? Why can't we just storm the place, grab Metalicana, and get out?" Natsu shouted, after he had stood up out of his chair that toppled backwards, while the rest of them were trying to come up with a plan.

No one even bothered to look his direction. Well, except for Happy, but that was because not only was he perched on his shoulder, but he was also trying to get him to sit back down before…

"Natsu, sit the hell down." It was as if he was speaking with sharpened needles instead of words. Gajeel wanted to break out Metalicana as soon as possible and he wasn't going to let Natsu's idiocy slow them down any more than it already had.

A silence that felt as though it was made of a thick rubber engulfed the room and the words Gajeel said managed to seep into Natsu's head, for he sat down shortly afterwards. Erza cleared her throat before she continued speaking.

"It's very difficult to come up with a plan when we don't know if we can trust any of the information he said. We don't even know where Metalicana is." Erza seemed frustrated by the lack of information and was concentrating intently on whether or not they should believe the man.

"Hm, he did say that Metalicana was being kept in an underground prison below the Capital. I have the feeling that what he said is true, but if he got back quickly, he could tell whoever had captured Metalicana that we knew. If they knew someone was coming, they would move him to a different location." Lucy had her chin resting in her hand as she tried to assist in the planning to retrieve the iron dragon.

"If that's the case, then let's go already!" Natsu, once again being the one person who can't sit still for very long. A strong hand gripped his shoulder and forced him down in his seat. Natsu liked to test his strength with his guild members, but he figured out quickly enough, if he tried to fight Gajeel now, he'd probably be killed.

"Natsu, will you ever learn to be _quiet_, just for one second?" Gray also wanted to start a fight, but he could tell from the atmosphere of the room that would not be a good idea right now.

The dragon with the carrot-colored hair leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I'm afraid I have to agree with Natsu on this one. I don't think he was lying, but he only gave one location, so we have to at least check there." He turned his head to look and Grandine. "What do you think?"

She snapped back to reality just in time to hear his question. "Yeah, we don't really have a choice. We'll have to be cautious, but we should definately go. Even if we don't find Metalicana, we might be able to obtain some more information on the man who was sent here." Igneel tried to ask one more…

"And before you try, my wound has healed enough and I _will_ be coming to make sure that you two don't cause too much trouble. Do you understand?" Grandine locked her death-stare onto Igneel, who gave a quick and fearful nod in response. A few people giggled at the scene, glad that the discussion was finally over and the adventure could begin.

"Alright, everyone grab your things. Meet up at the train station before the clock strikes midnight. We have to get to the capital as soon as possible." Erza stood up from her chair as she gave these directions. When nobody moved and just looked at her with blank stares, she spoke again. "_Now_!"

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It was five before midnight when everyone had arrived at the train station, which was almost deserted. There was no real time frame given for how long they would be in the capital, so no one knew how much to pack. The amounts ranged from Erza's gigantic assortment of luggage to the pack that Natsu simply carried on his back. Of course, Igneel had nothing to carry except for the cloak on his back and a small, silver case that was no bigger than his palm, which he just put in his pocket. It had the initials _I.G._ engraved on the front, but he never said what it stood for nor did he ever mention what was inside of it.

"We're all here now, right? Is anyone missing?" Lucy quickly looked around and did a head count, just to make sure. Satisfied, she called everyone over to get their tickets and they all boarded the train. Everything was going well, until the train started moving.

Natsu and Gajeel turned an unsavory shade of green from motion sickness and tried to ask Wendy for help.

"Can you please...Ugh." Natsu couldn't even finish his sentence before another wave of nausea came over him. But, it didn't really matter if he finished it or not…

"No, Natsu. Wendy needs to save her magic in case anyone gets hurt." Carla sat on top of Wendy's lap with her arms crossed. Gajeel was going to ask too, but wasn't able to even sit up far enough to speak. Being on the train was rather uncomfortable because they had squeezed all eleven of them into one cabin on the train. Even though the exceeds didn't take up much room, the rest of the people took up almost all of the remaining space.

"Alright, you know what!" Lucy had finally had enough of being crammed in the train car. "Let's split up into two cabins. Erza, if you don't mind, can you take Gajeel, Gray, and Wendy to the cabin across the hall? I think it'll be easier if we both only have to deal with one sick dragon slayer." Erza nodded in understanding and dragged Gajeel to the other cabin with Gray's help.

Lucy repositioned herself so that Natsu's head was on her lap, while drool dribbled out of his mouth that was slightly ajar. Happy curled up on top of her head and fell asleep quickly, without a single comment. _'That's right, it's already past midnight. He must be exhausted.'_ Lucy thought as she looked up to see a blue blob of fur atop her head. It was only then that she remembered her question for the dragons who had stayed in the cabin with them.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask earlier, but do you guys know why dragon slayers have motion sickness?" But when she glanced back down at the dragons, she noticed something. It appeared that Grandine had fallen asleep and decided to rest her head on Igneel's shoulder. She was snoring softly and her chest slowly rose and fell in time to her peaceful breathing, even though she was tilted over. Igneel must have drifted of to sleep a while later, because he had his head placed on top of Grandine's and was also sleeping soundly.

Lucy had to take a second to process what was right in front of her. Then, she smiled, remembering her thoughts previous to her question and realized that dragons are not exempt from tiredness, even if they'd lost most of their magic. Something else came to mind, however,_ 'Wait a minute. How can they fall asleep so peacefully on the train while the dragons slayers become sick?'_ Her question plagued her thoughts, until the smooth rumbling of the train lulled her to sleep as well.

Though, her sleep didn't last very long, due to the fact that a few minutes after, Erza came into the cabin to 'make sure everything was okay'. She slammed the door open with a loud crack when it ran into the door frame and shouted a few inaudible words. She was concerned because she hadn't heard any noise and no one responded when she knocked on the door. Lucy jumped awake and sent Natsu rolling onto the floor, much to his misfortune. Poor Happy tumbled off of her head and landed on the wooden bench, hard. The pair of dragons didn't seem bothered very much by Erza and slowly woke up as if the sun just happened to land on their faces. They mumble and rubbed their eyes as the looked at the scene in front of them. A motion sick boy on the floor, a blue cat on the train seat complaining about his butt hurting, a blonde who seemed to be scared out of her wits, and a red-head that had a look on her face that was a mixture of relief, confusion, and anger. They decided it was best to just go back to sleep.

A few hours later, they all arrived in the capital and were met with an unusual surprise.

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**I feel like very little actually happened, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I wonder what surprises await them. Hm? Please, please, please review! I am welcoming to any kind of feedback. I wish to improve my writing! Till next time! :)**


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